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Harley-Davidson vow: bikes sold in the U.S. will be built in U.S.

Plant under construction in Thailand to help company avoid international tariffs

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Updated: 9:21 AM CDT Jul 24, 2018

Harley-Davidson vow: bikes sold in the U.S. will be built in U.S.

Plant under construction in Thailand to help company avoid international tariffs

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Updated: 9:21 AM CDT Jul 24, 2018

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WEBVTT THEIR HEADQUARTERS WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY. >> WE ARE HERE AT 35TH AND HIGHLAND. WE HAVE JUST LEARNED GOOD NEWS FOR HARLEY JUST MINUTES AGO. ANNOUNCED THAT $242 MILLION IN SECOND-QUARTER EARNINGS. WHICH TOPS WALL STREET’S EXPECTATIONS. STILL, THE MILWAUKEE COMPANY TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THEY DO FROM HERE. >> I LOVE WISCONSIN. >> HOUSE PRESIDENT TRUMP WITH MIKE PENCE AT THE WHITE HOUSE IN FEBRUARY OF LAST YEAR. ALL SMILES. HARLEY-DAVIDSON EXECUTIVES PROMOTING THE ICONIC AMERICAN COMPANY. JUMP TO THIS YEAR, ON MARCH 1, PRESIDENT TRUMP POSED A 10% TARIFF ON IMPORTED ALUMINUM. WITHOUT CAUSE THE COMPANY -- COST THE COMPANY $20 MILLION MORE PER YEAR. THE EUROPEAN UNION RESPONDED IN JUNE WITH IT’S OWN TARIFFS, TARGETTING WISCONSIN. IT ADDED A TAX ON HARLEYS AND CRANBERRIES EXPORTED TO EUROPE. THE TAX JUMPED FROM 6% TO 31. THREE DAYS LATER, HARLEY ANNOUNCED IT WOULD SHIFT SOME PRODUCTION OVERSEAS TO AVOID THOSE TARIFFS. THAT ANGERED THE PRESIDENT, WHO TWEETED THE NEXT MORNING, QUOTE SURPRISED THAT HARLEY-DAVIDSON WOULD BE THE FIRST TO WAVE THE WHITE FLAG. HE CONTINUED, TAXES JUST A HARLEY EXCUSE. AT 8AM, HARLEY WILL PUBLICLY DISCUSS THEIR PLANS TO DEAL WITH THE NEW TARIFFS DURING THEIR SECOND QUARTER EARNINGS CONFERENCE

Harley-Davidson vow: bikes sold in the U.S. will be built in U.S.

Plant under construction in Thailand to help company avoid international tariffs

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Updated: 9:21 AM CDT Jul 24, 2018

MILWAUKEE —

The president and CEO of Harley-Davidson vowed that motorcycles sold in the U.S. will continue to be built in the U.S.

Matt Levatich addressed investors in a conference call regarding second quarter earnings Tuesday morning. Levatich said the company will continue to make decisions that are in the best interests of the company and its plans to grow internationally.

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The company has said tariffs on imported steel and aluminum imposed by the Trump administration would cost it $15-$20 million a year. It says retaliatory tariffs by the European Union raised the tax on Harleys exported to Europe from 6% to 31%, costing the company an additional $30-35 million, for a total cost of $45-$55 million.

John Olin, Senior Vice President and CFO said a new plant under construction in Thailand will help the company make more bikes for European and Asian markets that will not be subject to tariffs. That plant is scheduled to begin production in the 4th quarter.

The company will announce more details on its plans to expand globally on Monday, said Levatich.

Harley-Davidson topped Wall Street expectations again on steady sales in Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, though shipments slipped by 11 percent in the second quarter and the company warned that new EU tariffs would pressure operating margins.

The motorcycle maker was targeted by President Donald Trump recently after saying that because of retaliatory tariffs from the European Union in response to new U.S. aluminum and steel duties, it would be forced to move some operations overseas.

For the three months ended July 1, Harley-Davidson Inc. earned $242.3 million, or $1.45 per share. A year earlier the Milwaukee company earned $258.9 million, or $1.48 per share.

Stripping out manufacturing optimization costs, earnings were $1.52 per share. That easily beat the $1.35 per share that analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were calling for.